A striking story
When I was a kid, the one “organized” sport I really played a lot of was baseball. From Little League to “senior league” to the sandlot with friend who were happy to hop a fence, no matter how high, I most certainly was up for getting my baseball on. Through what, to me and a lot of my friends, was a “great” time for being a baseball fan - the 80’s - it was a blast. Between the stacks and stacks of baseball cards, the playing of “fantasy” baseball where four or five of us would manually, circa 1988-1991 or so, take the newspaper box scores and score our teams, and picking uniform numbers based on your favorite players, it was a good time. I even had a cool place to hang out through 7th-8th grade, and most of high school, in a baseball card store around the corner from my house, where a bunch of us from school would hang out and talk baseball and other sports stuff with the owner, Vinnie, who was a staunch Mets fan. A lot of us were Yankees fans, which always made for good rivalry fun, and it was interesting hearing about some fun baseball times in the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s from an “adult” point of view.
One of my good friends at the time, Rob P., was one person whose teams I ended up on quite a bit, and we used to play game after game of catch in the yard. He was into the Minnesota Twins, and his dad was a Yankees fan, which was fun - considering the Yankees were pretty much sucking it up during the Don Mattingly years, and the Twins did fairly well for themselves in parts of the 80’s and 90’s. In any case, Rob’s dad had told us the story of Lyman Bostock, who had been absolutely stellar on the Minnesota Twins, and had moved on to the California Angels for the 1978 season after spurning offers from the Mets and Yankees. Rob was familiar with him having been a fan of the team, and it was probably one of the earliest “tragic” things I’d really heard about with regard to sports. While I’d been around for the deaths of a number of other players in the late 70’s, it wasn’t something I was “aware” of. Other than that, Len Bias’ tragic death was the other thing that struck a chord.
In any case, Lyman Bostock has always been a name that rings a bell whenever it comes up, and definitely starts a conversation when I’m around fellow baseball fans. So earlier today, when I caught this link on the front page of ESPN.com, I just had to click through and read it all. Jeff Pearlman most certainly fills in a lot of the blanks that I hadn’t really heard about before, and includes some comments and insights that made the story a little more “real” than what I’d heard before. I still find it pretty rare (thankfully we don’t have a ton of these happenings to look back on) to find something that captures experience the way that this story has - from fans of baseball at the time who remember where they were, or liked seeing the player play the game - and as we’re all hammered with story after story about this, that, and every other thing, it’s definitely rare that I have the time, or better yet, take the time, to read something all the way through, and then put together a post like this, to share with others.
In any case, enough of my rambles. Just thought it was a great piece that I’d share with fans of baseball, and so forth, and give Jeff Pearlman some kudos on striking a chord with the piece.
Just bought this
Okay, for those of you who don’t think people buy things from newsletters and other online locations, feast your eyes on this awesome hat - it’s the old school Oakland A’s logo on a silver and black, a la the Oakland Raiders, hat.
Found via this morning’s Thrillist SF - and there’s only 30, and I just bought 1, so you’ve got maybe 29 left to buy from…
On playing the outfield and randomness
Here’s an excerpt, where the names were changed to protect the innocent, of a conversation I’d had at dinner this week with a friend:
Me: So, what else is new?
She: Well, I have a new boyfriend for the last few months. He’s great!
Me: That’s awesome. What’s he do and where did you meet him?
She: Well, do you follow baseball? He’s [redacted], an outfielder for [redacted team].
Me: That’s pretty awesome. So how’d you guys meet?
Needless to say, you know when you have a conversation where something comes COMPLETELY out of left field? (sorry, no pun intended) Well, this was it.
Helmets for 1st & 3rd base coaches in pro baseball
MLB.com has an article on Monday about how all all Minor and Major League 1st & 3rd base coaches will wear helmets - ear flaps optional, it says - as of the 2008 season. This all went down in the wake of minor league coach Mike Coolbaugh, who was in the Colorado Rockies’ system in July when he was hit with a line drive and died from his injuries.
While it’s not fan-related, it’s the second major move by a sports league for safety of some sort, just years after the NHL added the netting above the glass in the offensive ends in the 2002 season. That time, it was after a 13-year old girl at a Columbus Blue Jackets game in March of 2002. In any case, it’s a smart move. While I was most certainly one who thought the netting was frustrating, I can also say that I’ve seen enough fans - especially those not necessarily paying attention - get whacked with pucks to see it being worthwhile. Coaches might not be happy with it for awhile - as the MLB.com article states - but I think they all get the point.
The NuttyBuddy is friends with Chris Sabo
I’m sorry, but when you come out with a product called the NuttyBuddy, which is just that. You know, it’s like a buddy. For your nuts. Really.
So if you’re in the market for an athletic supporter, or just know someone you’d like to punk by making a video like this one of your own, then knock yourself out.
[Thanks, Thrillist!]
Is it on the offline list, though?
I’m getting a little bummed that my On the DL fix has been more than stagnant of late. I mean, I know it’s the off-season, but come on! Anyone got a backup?
Curtis Leskanic gets a shoutout
The Onion had this to say just a few days ago about the Boston Red Sox attempting to win the World Series this year (yeah, yeah, I know), and it’s probably the only positive I’m going to get to look at today when it comes to their sweep of the Colorado Rockies.
Joe Girardi, huh?
To all of those sports callers who were raving about how it had to be Don Mattingly as manager of the New York Yankees, looks like you were wrong, at least so far. Unless Joe Girardi turns down the Yankees’ offer.
“Stay away from my neighbors!” say umps
Looks like MLB’s umpires aren’t so happy about the League questioning their neighbors as part of background checks for those who are officiating their games.
Good job, Rockies
With the Yankees out of the MLB postseason, I most certainly don’t have much to root for. (What, you thought I’d root for the Sox or Tribe?) That said, kudos to the Colorado Rockies for voting a full share of the team’s playoff winnings to the wife of minor league coach Mike Coolbaugh, who was killed after being hit with a line drive on July 22.